State Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, has filed a complaint against state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, accusing the embattled senator and gubernatorial candidate of intimidating a woman who accused him of groping.

Book filed her complaint with the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, saying Latvala made a deliberate effort to out his accuser, Rachel Perrin Rogers. Rogers is an aide to Republican Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson.

“I became aware that Sen. Latvala was feeding this complainant’s identity to media outlets in an effort to out her and intimidate her and others. I knew that I needed to do something,” Book said. “I knew that other individuals wouldn’t feel safe coming forward if somebody didn’t put a stop to that behavior or call it out for what it is. It’s threatening, it’s wrong, it’s conduct unbecoming a senator or any human being.”

Rogers is the first woman to go public with allegations against Latvala. Five others anonymously made similar claims about Latvala to Politico Florida.

Latvala says the allegations aren't true and called Book's complaint "guerrilla warfare" in an effort to keep the controversy alive.

He said he hasn't seen the complaint, but the only thing he's guilty of is defending himself. He also said Book violated Senate rules by making her complaint public before it could be reviewed.

“He should have allowed the process to work as he agreed to,” Book said. “He signed an agreement to keep Ms. Perrin Rogers’ identity a secret and then went about systematically outing her in an effort to intimidate other women and then went about assassinating her character to further intimidate other women to get Ms. Perrin Rogers to withdraw her complaint or to protect his position within the body.”

Asked whether Latvala should resign from the Senate, Book said “I think I’m going to let the complaint speak for itself and my statement speak for itself.”

Book’s prepared statement, released late Tuesday after she filed her complaint, accused Latvala of “behavior is unbecoming of a sitting Senator, unfair to Ms. Perrin Rogers, and discouraging to others who may have wished to come forward and may not now do so for fear that “they too” will be publicly shamed, or even jeopardize their employment.”

The chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, must now weigh the merits of Book’s complaint and is already considering the initial sexual harassment complaint filed by Perrin Rogers. The last pre-session committee week before the legislative session begins Jan. 8 is ongoing, so it’s unlikely the merits of the complaints will be decided before session begins in January.

If the committee finds probably cause exists to go forward, the full Senate could vote to expel Latvala, which would require the votes of 26 of the sitting senators.